Troubles Long After
by Lightning8910
Summary: After saving the world, all Link wants is a normal life back in Ordon. But, when he is stuck as a wolf, he will have to find help from the most unlikely places. TP story. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

Link's other problems began long after he rid the world of twilight. It felt as though everything he had known had flipped and flopped until he didn't know what was up and what was down.

For Link, it was hard to admit that Midna was gone. She left him, so she could return to the world of twilight. He had known they were to be parted eventually, but never dwelled too much on it. He had decided to return to Ordona, to regain his life.

He never told the village about what happened when he was gone, or that he could turn into a wolf at will. Ever since he came back, he seemed to have lost any trace sarcasm or humor.

They, or rather Rusl and his son Colin saw the look in his eyes ever since he got back. The look of an wild animal.

They often questioned Link about what happened, but he refused to tell.

This night, they planned to interrogate him, and Link knew it.

What they didn't know was that Link was right outside their house, listening. And he knew if they had seen him at that moment, Colin would run and his father would try to kill him. Because he didn't look like Link, the only hint to that it was he, was the birthmark on his left arm, his earrings, and his eyes.

At that moment, Link wasn't even human.

"If they knew what really happened, they would never look at me the same again. I can't let that happen." Link grumbled to himself in the middle of the night. He started towards his home, so he would be there when they arrived.

As he approached his home he forced the crystal that made him a wolf out through pure force of will and returned to human form.

He took the crystal and put it in his pouch.

He sat at home, and thought about what he was going to say. He finally came up with a plan just as he heard knocking on the door. Rusl barged in and sat on the sofa. Colin just waited outside.

"Come on in, Colin." I say.

"I know your here to interrogate me. And right now, I don't have any answers for YOU, Rusl. Only Colin. So if you'd please exit the house."

"Alrighty then, Link, I'll be outside, not eavesdropping or anything."

"Why can you only tell me?" Colin asked.

"Because I think you'll understand what I'm about to tell you better than your father, okay?"

He nodded slowly.

Link began to tell Colin what really happened when he was knocked out at the spring. Link told him everything, except that he turned into a wolf, and about his companion, Midna. He told him this first, so that he wouldn't overreact when he told him the other bit.

"Why have you not told anyone?" he asked inquisitively.

"The areas of twilight I was talking about, well, when people are inside of it, they turn into spirits."

"But you didn't?" Link could tell Colin was scared about what he was about to find out, but he deserved to know.

"No, it affected me in...other ways. It's better if I show you, remember, when I do, no matter how I'm being hurt because of it, you CANNOT tell anyone, understood?"

Colin nodded. What was this huge secret Link had?

"It'll be better if we go to the spring." Link said thoughtfully.

More nodding.


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived at the spring, Link pulled out his black crystal.

Link held it out and said, " This is what triggers it. It is a solid form of pure twilight. Look, but do not touch, otherwise nothing too good would happen."

"Why do you keep it?"

"It is a memory. Albeit, a bad memory mixed with good ones. Colin, did your dad tell you about the monster that stayed after you were kidnapped?"

Colin wondered why Link had changed the subject so suddenly. Colin did remember his dad telling him about a monster that attacked the village and stole the sword and shield.

"You killed it right? That's how you got the sword and shield, right?"

"No."

"But, how did you get the-" Colin was interrupted by Link.

"It would be best if I showed you. Remember our promise. Remember, I'm still the same Link."

Colin wondered what Link was going to do exactly.

Link walked towards the shadows. Thoughts, such as, Why the Hell are you doing this!? Do you really trust that kid?

But Link had already touched the stone. It was like diving into the lake, once you jumped you can't stop.

He walked out from under the tree, in all his blue-eyed-beast-nonsense glory.

"What have you done with Link, monster?"

Crap. Link cocked his head, trying to appear nonthreatening.

He pulled out a wooden sword Link had given him for his birthday. He said, "Link was about to show me a very important secret that he only trusted me to know. So I'm going to kill you to get revenge."

Link could've sworn he heard laughing, Midna's laughing to be exact. He even thought she whispered to him, "So these are your friends!? No offense, but he must not know you very well."

Colin looked around, looking for the person that voice belonged too. No one.

Link jumped up and started looking around, searching for his long lost friend.

"Puppy, I'm where I always am."

Link said in beast tongue, "Come out Midna, or I'll-"

"You're no fun," she said jumping out of his shadow.

To Colin it looked like a telephone call, you could only see one side of it.

"So, what were you saying, wolf boy? Besides don't call you puppy or wolf boy, I know you hate it, but what were you threatening to do? Cover me in slobber, that's not very human of you is it?"

Human? Colin wondered how could this monster have anything to do with a human.

"Take the shard of twilight out, you say? Well, only if you say please."

She pulled out something that looked a lot like Link's shard of twilight.

"Hmmm. It's not working. Have you done this since I left?"

"What do you mean, "Of course I have I just did it an hour ago"? An hour ago doesn't matter, what matters is right now."

"What the heck is going on?" Colin asked the imp lady.

"Oh. You're still here. Well might as well get straight too it. It would be better if Wolf Boy here told it too you. What do you mean you can't talk too him? You could talk too people this whole time. Why didn't I tell you, why you never asked. Just think you're words."

It was a very odd exchange to Colin.

"That sounds stupid," a very familiar voice said in Colin's head.

"Link!? WHERE ARE YOU?" Colin shouted rather noisily.

"It worked?" the voice said again.

"Of course it worked, when have I never not been right?" Midna asked rather sarcastically.

"Well, in the forest temple, the water temple, thinking I could handle the shadow beasts alone an-"

"That's enough puppy."

"I said stop calling me that. Besides, you're scaring Colin, go away."

"Bye-bye!"

The imp called Midna vanished into the shadows.

"How do I know you're not going to eat me?" Colin said to the wolf.

"Well, I saved you enough times, it would be pretty useless by now."

"You saved me?"  
The wolf yawned and said, "Part of the reason I got dragged into that stupid quest in the first place."

The realization dawned on Colin.

"You're him aren't you?"

"Yep"

"That's what happened!? And all that stuff about not being able to turn back, that was true? So you're stuck like this? And one last thing, why are you acting so nonchalant about this?" The questions flew out of Colin like a river.

"Yes, yes, I tend to do that when I feel awkward."

"Oh."

"Oh indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

Link had told Colin to return home and meet him at the spring when he could get away.

When he returned home, he went straight to bed. When Colin went outside to see Link, he was distracted by Talo and Beth.

Talo asked, "Colin have you seen Link lately? We were going to play hide and seek with him."

"Last time I saw him he was at the spring."  
"Thanks Colin!" Beth said as she hurried away.

"Oh shoot, that IS where Link is, Colin thought as he raced torward them.

"Wait!" he shouted.

He caught up with them as soon as they entered the gate.

"Colin stand back," Talo said calmly as he stared at the wolf. Link stared back, putting his best, "I'm not impressed face on."

"Beth, is it just me or is that wolf look like Link when he's trying to get me to stop bugging him?" Talo asked Beth nervously.

"Scarily," she replied.

Talo marched up to Link and asked, "Are you Link?"

Colin heard Link's voice in his head, "Blunt as ever isn't he Colin? I'm going to have some fun with this"

Beth said, "If you understand us, nod your head."

Link obliged.

"Now nod your head if you are Link," Talo demanded

Nod.

"How did you get like this?" Beth asked earnestly. Colin told them, not excluding a single detail.

"That imp sounds like a shady character." Talo said.

"Of course I'm shady I'm in the shade."

"You weren't kidding," Beth said to Colin nervously.

"Link, stop messing around and just talk to them already.

"Ok."

"You can talk like that? Why didn't you do it before?" Talo asked.

"You never asked."

"Is there any way we can get you back to normal?" Colin asked.

"Yes. In Castle Town."

"What about our parents?"  
"What do you think?" Talo asked.  
"Let's go," the children said in unison.

"if anything happens to any of us, find a place in Castle Town called Telma's Bar. Tell her your friends of Link and Ilia." The children nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

They had been traveling across Hyrule Field for about 2 days. One night, Link woke up to see a monster, a bulblin to be exact, about to hurt Colin. Link thrust himself in front of the club and fought the monster off. By the time he was done, all the children were awake.

"Link...You're bleeding," Colin said.

"I suppose I am." And with those words, Link fainted.

Laughter came from Link's shadow. Midna came out and said, "If you want to save him, you better follow his advice." And with that piece of advice she disappeared.

So, three small kids, hauled an unconscious wolf, to Castle Town, and into Telma's Pub.

When they initially arrived, it was not a warm welcome. It took lots of noise. Eventually Telma let them in when Colin shouted they were Link and Ilia's friends.  
"What are you doing with a wolf?" she asked.

Colin told her how it had saved their lives.

"Sweetie, it probably didn't know it was saving you."

"We don't care, just help him."

"It's a wild beast, it would kill you as soon as it would look at you."

"That doesn't matter!" Colin shouted at her. That was when he noticed his dad in the back of the room, looking at Link.

"Colin, that's the wolf that came to our village after you were kidnapped, it's no good. Look it's been imprisoned before." his father told him.

He looked at Telma,"Please..."

Alright I'll see what I can do.

Half an hour later she had put some disinfectant and bandages on Link and he was awake. Rusl stared at the wolf, and the wolf stared back. It was the same one that had come to their village.

"That kid of yours sure got some imagination Rusl, ya' know that?" Shad said to his friend. Rusl was confused. His son usually didn't make things up, and how had he managed to get Talo and Beth to come with him?

Colin looked at Link and asked, "Where do we go from here?"

The wolf ran to the table knocked Ashei out of her chair, and looked at the map.

Colin ran over. "Where are we going," he asked.

Link put his paw on the desert.

"Link, there's a big cliff, how do we get there?" Beth asked.

He put his paw on Lake Hylia.

"Why, I never, he understands Hylian. And that desert, we sent Link there didn't we? I never met a beast like this before." Shad said.

"Beast, if you understand me, nod your head," Rusl commanded.

Link shook his head. Ashei laughed, "What do you know, it has a sense of humor, yeah. And by the way, next time you can just ask for me to get out, yeah?"

Link hung his head bashfully, which brought roars of laughter from the Resistance.

Meanwhile, Link was having a conversation with the kids.

"You have to go home. The next who will be hurt might be you"

"We don't care! We want to help you," Talo shouted.

"It's final."

"Why did you bring us in the first place then?" Colin asked.

"Because you would follow and I wouldn't be able to protect you. Have you not thought about what Rusl will do? He's going to take you home whether you like it or not."

The children thought it over and nodded. As soon as he did that, he ran, he ran, so that he could leave all the troubles of his life behind. Of course, Midna had to ruin the moment.

"Great job ditching them."  
"I wasn't trying to ditch them! I just want them to be safe!"  
"Sure. And I'm back looking like this just because I felt like it."

"Why did you come back? And why do you look like that?"

"The twilight's returning, a weaker twilight that is. That's probably why you're stuck like that. And, like you, I now have the ability to switch forms, I thought you'd be more comfortable traveling with me like this."

"Sooo, what I'm hearing is I can now call you Imp Girl."

"Only if you want me to keep calling you Wolf Boy."

"Dang it."

**So what did you think? Sorry I waited so long for Midna to explain why she's there. Some of you are all like, "Nooooo! I thought the kids were a part of the main story. They are, they've just fulfilled there role. I might bring them back, I don't know. A quick shout out to my 4 or 5 favoriters and followers (yes I just said favoriters) Now would probab;y be a good time to say that I don't own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. We all know. Link doesn't speak, and Ilia is boring. T.T**


	5. Authors Note

**Author's Note**

**I'm having a bit of writers block with this story right now. I may not update for a while, so until I come up with something for this story I'm going to be working on a Maximum Ride/Twilight Princess crossover. Sorry.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Wake up, doggy."

"I don't want to."

"Well it's your choice, if you don't want to become human again."

"Fine."

Link stood up and stretched his legs. "Why didn't you just warp us to the Mirror Chamber?"

"You didn't have enough energy to get us all the way there."

"It takes my energy!?"

"Without the Twilight, yes."

"That's just wonderful." Midna smiled and snapped her fingers, warping them.

"I cannot get over the feeling of being dissolved like medicine."

"You better."

Link sighed and padded forward, to where he could communicate with the sages.

"We know why you come. The Master Sword is of use to you. Take it, and defeat the darkness." The sage faded away.

"That was easy." Midna remarked.

"Off we go to Faron Woods." Midna snapped her fingers and the duo went to Faron Woods.

"Well... this is better. But, what should I do about the kids? I can't leave them hanging."

"I still think that you look better as a wolf."

"That has nothing to do with what I'm talking about."

"What? I'm not allowed to speak my mind?"  
"No."

"Very funny."

"Thank you. I try."

"Yeah, sure. What did you do without me?'

"I moped."

"I don't doubt it."

"How did we get so off topic?"

"I don't know. You're the one who asked me the question."

"You still haven't answered."

"Fine. Why don't you just go down, tell them you're okay, and we get going."

"You are so annoying."

"You have a better idea?"

"...no..."

"Exactly."

"Link!" Colin shouted, "You're okay!"  
"Yeah, I'm back, finally."

"WE MISSED YOU!" Talon shouted in his ear.

"Talo, I'm right here, you don't need to yell."

"I KNOW! I YELLED AT MY DAD TOO MUCH SO NOW I CAN ONLY YELL OUTSIDE! I'M NOT GOING TO STOP!"

"Okay... How is everyone Colin?"

"The village was worried about you. They looked everywhere. My dad thinks that you killed yourself if you know what I mean."

"He thinks I committed suicide?"

Colin looked exasperated, "No! He thinks wolf you killed you."

"That makes a lot more sense."  
"I just came to tell you that I may not be back for a while and that I'm okay."

"Will you come back soon?"

"Yes. I promise."

**I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I'm also so sorry that this chapter isn't as long as I had hoped. But, I wanted to get something up, so I hurried. The next chapter might not be up for a while, so bear with me. Hopefully it'll be longer, but who knows. If any of you guys have any idea's about where this story should go, please review! **


	7. Chapter 7

Link sighed sadly. "Don't look so sad, you'll come back." Midna consoled.

"I don't think I will this time Midna."

"Don't think like that. We have to look to the future, never give up. That's what a wise man taught me."

"That wise man has gone and past. I just a bad feeling."

Midna sighed heavily. "Well, we should go to the Temple of Time. Maybe there's something there that can help us."

"Okay." Midna smiled. "Don't fret! You have your princess to protect you!"

Link scrunched up his face. "isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"Yes, but you're acting like a pessimist so I'm going to be the optimist until you cheer up."

"Fine. Hahahahaha. Everything is okay. I will live." Link said with forced enthusiasm. Midna shook her head. "No, this is what you should be like." She snapped her fingers and a small blue creature with a ladybug shell came with oven mitts on appeared. He jumped up and smiled. "Everything is okay!" then screamed and disappeared in a blue flash.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"A creature from a world known as Cartoon Hangover in Youtube."

"No idea what that is, but I'm just going to keep moving."

"Good for you." Midna then warped them to Faron Woods

Link awoke to Skull Kid's laughing. He stared at the child for a bit, and he retreated, and stuck his tongue out at him. "Why don't we look in the Temple of Time?" Midna suggested.

"Okay."

They traveled to the chamber of the temple where Link had previously used the Master Sword to make a rainbow bridge. It was gone now, though.

"Wonder what would happen if I put it back in." Link wondered out loud.

"Probably nothing, but worth a try." Link walked over to the pedestal and used his strength to drive it into the stone. As he did, words in ancient hylian appeared.

"Can you read that?" Link asked Midna. She nodded and began to recite it.

_"There is a tale_

_You know quite well._

_Survived through the ages_

_Of a hero brave._

_He went through time_

_And dug his grave_

_Listen to his ancient spirit_

_But his time is not_

_As clear as it should be_

_His time splits in to three._

_Where he died in vain,_

_When he returned and left._

_But, there is more._

_There is always a before._

_There was a hero_

_Who lost his friend._

_He dove through clouds_

_And fell to our world_

_With youth of ancient wisdom_

_He searched the holy land_

_While she blessed herself in the sacred springs._

_He searched far and wide._

_Until he found her so._

_Awakened as the goddess._

_Taken by the gate._

_Stopped by the evil_

_Servant of wrath._

_He got the sacred harp._

_And swore to find her again._

_But he must understand._

_There are more than one._

_Side of every world._

_He must learn not to fear the dark._

_The Hero of Light._

_Accompanied by the dark princess_

_Must find him _

_Before he destroys his hope._

_They must work together._

_If not time is doomed._

_To live in a era _

_Of death."_

As Midna finished reciting the poem, an erie light came from the sword. It glowed bright, and the two friends enveloped in the light.

Link awoke in a pedestal surrounded by a waterfall. The six sages Link had met at Arbiters Ground stood on pedestals representing their affinity. The Sage of Light stepped forward.

"I am Rauru. I am from the past. Long ago, a hero had to learn. We called you here so you could teach him. You are our hope of survival" Rauru and the other sages lifted there arms up and Link felt a weight in his bag. "Whenever you wish to return, call upon our power." And Link collapsed.

**And... it's up! Phew. Thank the lord for Veteran's Day. Well, I'll start to work more on this story. It's not going where I originally planned it to, but that's all right. Can ****_you_**** guess where it's going? Who the bad guy is? Trick question! I don't even know yet! Except that the antagonist screwing with time is not Ghirahim, Ganon, or Demise. BTW, I need reviews! Reviews are my cookies! Nomnomnomnomnomnom(Song of Double Time) nomnomnomnom...**


	8. Chapter 8

"Urgghhh..." Link groaned as he awoke. He sat up straight and looked around. They were in a dense forest full of trees with bright foliage. "Midna, where are we?" Link asked.

"Look up." Link did as she asked and peered towards the sky. He saw a man clad in clothes similar to his own, diving from the air. Not far behind, was a man with ridiculous red hair. The man with red hair grabbed on to Link's ancestor, causing them both to fall a bit, until the man in green released a parachute and slowly glided to the ground, though, they landed with a thud.

"Ugh... rough landing," the man with the rooster hair said, "I think I might of broke something." Link silently snorted. If he had broken anything, it was his ego. "Hey, Link," Rooster continued. Link froze. His ancestor had the exact same name. He shook his head and continued to listen. "Seriously..." He turned to his ancestor, "Didn't anyone ever teach you how to land without crash-" Rooster froze mid-sentence. He looked at the tiny birds pecking around his boots.

"WHOA! B-birds? TINY birds? Wh-what ARE they!?" Link stared in confusion. Apparently, he was used to big birds.

A goron with a map walked by, looking around.

"And what is that thing!?" Apparently gorons were new to him too. Link's ancestor was standing up. Rooster stood with his mouth open, gaping at the goron.

"But...How...Wh-why...Wha-what...Where am I?!" He stood up and began shaking Link's ancestor. "What's going on here? Ever since Zelda vanished, you've been zipping in and out of town all in a hurry!" Zelda's ancestor was here too. It only made sense, Link guessed. "So I figured I'd tail you, and you might lead me to Zelda. But this is...so wild. Seriously, what IS that thing over there?!"

"Racist," Midna whispered in Link's ear. He gave her a grin.

"And what's with all these trees? There are so many!" Link shook his head silently in the bushes. This man knew nothing about the world.

Rooster resumed his shaking. "Just give it to me straight! I can take it. Where are we? Is Zelda here? What's the deal with this place?! If there's supposed to be nothin' below the clouds, what's all this?"

LA (Link's Ancestor) Patted his hands and began to explain. Rooster's real name was Groose. Both of them came from a place in the sky called Skyloft. Their friend, Zelda, was okay. At least that's what Link got from it. He decided to dub his ancestor Sky, because it would be really confusing if he thought of him as Link.

Groose fell to his knees. "Uhhhh... Whoa... You're kind of imploding my mind right now... But I think I get what you're saying. If I've got this right, Zelda is down here somewhere and she's...OK?" Sky nodded with a smile. "She's... She's OK. Oh, wow! That's so great! Duh huh huh..."

Groose turned to look around. "You know, Link... It's sort of all right down here. This place needs a name." Link smiled. He was witnessing the naming of Hyrule. "Yeah... A name fitting for this rugged, adventurous wilderness. From now on, we'll call it... Grooseland!" Link bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Sky looked amused too. "Yeah," Sky said, "We're not calling Grooseland."

"So lemme see if I've got this right," Groose continued, oblivious to Sky's comment. The old lady living in the temple down the road from here knows where Zelda is?" Sky nodded. "I see... Right, Link. Thanks for getting me here. You've done a good job. You can head home. Big Groose will handle the search for Zelda from here. Yup. I'll track her down, save her, and then give her a lift back to Skyloft..."

"Then when we get back, I'll ask her if she wants to make our whole going-out thing official, and then the two of us will get some quality time together. Anyway, the point is your work here is done. I got it covered from here! Now, it's off to find that old lady you were talking about. Catch you later, Link!" Groose yelled as he ran away.

"You can't even get back to Skyloft without my help! And I'm the hero!" Sky yelled as he chased after Groose.

"This is going to be a long journey," Midna told me.

"When are they ever short?"

**And... the next chapters up already! Still a little short, but it's worth it! That first review made me pumped! Yeah... enough with the exclamation points... I had to include this section of the game word for word, best scene in Zelda history. No longer is it the Legend of Zelda, it is the Legend of Groose, having the most ridiculous hair since the Sky Era. And what Midna said, was pretty much just my thoughts on Groose. ;P REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

Link sighed and started following Sky, but first there was something he had to do. He walked over to the Goron.

"Excuse me, but may I please see that map for a second?" The Goron smiled.

"Sure bud. Any time." Link looked over the map and got the general setting in his mind while Midna transferred it to a blank parchment.

"Wow. The gorons here are sure a lot friendlier." Link remarked to Midna.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Ours were all like 'Roll! Roll! Smash! Smash! Bang! Ow!'"

"What?"

"Never mind. Just follow Sky."

"I'm not even going to ask how you knew that's what I called him."

"Humans are pre-dict-a-ble," she said, putting emphasis on each syllable. Link shook his head and started running forward. As he approached the temple, a large roar could be heard through out the woods.

"Hurry!" Link looked down the spiraling ramp, and saw Sky at the bottom, by an stone tablet of some kind. The ground around his feet turned black, and a large monster with a giant mouth rose from the depths of the darkness. Sky jumoed back and immediately attacking the appendages on its foot. This went on for several minutes, until Sky destroyed them all. The monster fell to the ground, and Sky wasted no time getting on its back to where a spike was impaled. He raised his sword skyward, and it became encased in a blue glow. He swiped his word in the air, and the glow lifted off the sword, through the air, and into the pike on it's head. It roared in pain.

"Why can't I do that?" Link asked Midna.

""Be quiet."

Link huffed and continued watching. Sky had jumped off the monsters back before it could stand, and push him off. He continued slicing at the feet, completely focused. That, however, was not a good thing. Sky was so distracted, that he didn't notice the monster bending forward, about to swallow him in its enormous mouth.

Link wasted no time in jumping off the cliff. He landed upon the monsters back, and began pounding the spike impaled on its head.

Sky looked up in confusion at Link. Link managed to impale the spike deep enough so that the monster fell, and dissolved into smoke. The spike returned to its original place, darkness still seeping from it.

Link nodded at Sky. Sky stepped forward and raised his sword skyward, and released the energy. The dark energy stopped seeping from the spike.  
Link sighed. "Damn, that was close."

Sky looked at Link closely, noticing the same clothes, and they even looked the same.

"Who the hell are you?"

Link smiled at him knowingly. "I've come to help you."

"No kidding. How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Link asked, confused.

"When you jumped on the Imprisoned, and began hitting the spike. Your, sword it glew, black."

Link shrugged. "I dunno."

Sky stared. "At least tell me your name."

"Li- Er, umm, Shadow! Yeah... that's my name."

"Okay, Shadow. I'm Link. It's a pleasure to meet you." Sky smiled happily.

"Er, you too."

"We should probably go see the Old Lady."

"That's rude."

"No! Not like that! It's just she never told me her name!" Sky defended. Shadow shrugged. "Whatever."

Sky shook his head and laughed. "We are so alike, it's scary. I would have said the same thing if the tides were turned."

"You have no idea." Shadow murmured as he followed Sky up the cliff.

**Next chapter, and it's still short. Sorry, hopefully they'll be longer soon. Someday. Sorry the beginning was sucky, but it'll get better... soon. But, besides that, all I have too say is REVIEW!**


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